Chriftsbountie wonderfully fet out in the collation of this fauour. Of the good Theefe. Ser.4.o. dz7 him, that he lawhe was not crucified for Ch rift, than the Croft& it felfe was vntohim. So that beginning to fuffer like aTheefe, hee becanie todye like a Martyr. Hodie mecum eris inParadfo. Today(halt thou be withme in Paraohfe. Neuer did anyformer ages feeaBuor comparable vnto this. Firft, inregard ofthat which heauen is in it felfe ; being that next vnro the hypoftaticall vnion, it is the greateft good that the omnipotencieof God can giue vs. All othergood leaueth vs Rill hungry ; this only atfoo. deth fulnJle, 1Ad!befatisjFed when thygloryfhallappeare. All doe feeke after heauen,anddoe ap- petereDeum,as theirvltiammbottom, Def:rethefruitionefGod, tre their chiefef! cute. But becaufethey neitherknowwhat God nor heauen is , they hace fcarce peeptin with their headswithin the doores of that Supreame Princely Pallace, but that they are rauifhed with that ftrange and vnfpeakeable admiration , that blefling themfelues,they breakeoutinthismanner; This furelyis God. Their weake apprehenfion not being able to conceiue the leaft glorie ofthat great Def- tie, fo that Efaymight very wellfay,Iamfoundoftliofe thatfekenot afterme. The capacitieof our conceit, and the modell ofourimagination, is buta thimbletcll, in rapedofthat immenfe Ocean ofGods grearneffe. And therefore true is that Laying , That the tuft doth finde that whichheedoth notfeeke for. And if the crummes which fall from that diuine Table, doe robbe a man of his vnderflan- ding, bani(hall other thoughts from him, and doeas it were alienate him from himfelfe, howwill he betransported, whenhe (hall drinke at the fountains of that riuer of delights., and whenGod (hall fayvnto him ; Open thy mo, ttr wide,and twillfllit. So incomparable is thegreatnes ofthisgood, That Godfuffets him- ielfe toberob'd by the labours and [wears ofman. Whenwebuy a thing dog.. cheape, wevfe to fay it is ftolne. Put in one fcale, fa(tings, alines-deedes, facke- cloth, and allies, the tormentsofMartyrs, the troubles of Confeffours ; and in another ¡Cale , onehoure, nay one minuteofheauen , and in reafon of buying and felling, heauen is robbed by vs. And hereunto doth allude that phrafe in Scripture, Et violentrapinua illud; And the violent take itbyforce. Now then, that afterfomany thefts, robberies, deaths, our Sauiour Chrift Mould grant fo great agood to this Theefe, a greater fauourcannot be imagined. Secondly, in regard of theaduantagehehad ofothers. Weknow,that in glo- ry, fome fhall enioy more, fomeleffe, LAS oneflarredfersfrom another inbright- wife. All (hall inioy eternal glorie,but not all the fame degrees inglorie.But con- fider I pray you thegreat aduantagethatthis Theefemade; for he held it to bee agreat happineffevnto him, ifGodwouldbe butpleafed to afford him anythe leaf}cornerofheauen .46botArnaldo,agraue andantient, Authorhathadtientured to fay,That God had giuen himthechaire wherein Lucifer fate. S. cyprian faith, &uidea DomineamplineStephan coat:dip?'erc.nhLord, what could that Proto- martyr Saint Stephen inioy more, or that thy beloued Difciple whichdid leane hishead in thyhofome? And (as Girillua 1erefltmitantufaith) Whatcouldthe long feruices ofthofe that endured theheateofthe day, obtaine more at Gods handscBut God makes thé thisanfwer, 1 donot theenowrong,didfl thou agreewith meforapennie ?Some labourers were workinghard at the Vineyard from the firft houre;o>rhers from the third houre;orhersbegan at theninthhoure;otherswhé the funne wasvpon felting. FirftcameAdam,then Noah, afterhimAbraham, and thereft ofthe holy Prophets: but the Theefecame iuftat the Sunne-ferting. G g g z Saint The glorieof the heauenly Paradifo
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